Chairman of the Board of Directors HNG Mr. Tran Ba Duong
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Regarding the situation of agricultural investment in Laos, Member of the Board of Directors cum Deputy General Director of HNG, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Phi, stated that HNG has been approved in principle by the Lao government to invest in a large-scale project for growing fruit trees and raising cattle.
Legally, HNG will invest based on the merger of two companies, Hoang Anh Gia Lai Attapeu Agricultural Development Company Limited and Hoang Anh Quang Minh Rubber and Agricultural Industry Company Limited, into Nam Lao Agricultural Investment and Production Trading Company Limited. Accordingly, Nam Lao will inherit the assets and capital from these two companies, meaning that it will invest on the land area of Attapeu and Quang Minh companies.
Regarding the capital mobilization, the Nam Lao project will have a structure of 40% equity, HNG will raise through channels for Nam Lao, the remaining 60% is loan capital. To mobilize capital, in the immediate future, HNG must complete the legal process of the project. In fact, the Company is in the process of completing the project contract transfer from the two old companies to Nam Lao. After that, the relevant ministries and agencies in Laos will issue new investment projects for Nam Lao. On this basis, HNG will prepare investment dossiers for overseas investment from Vietnam, from which it can raise capital from credit organizations.
Regarding the three-party agreement between HNG, Hoang Anh Gia Lai JSC (HOSE: HAG) and BIDV Bank, HNG currently owes 1.1 trillion VND to be paid to HAG through bond channels. With the current situation, HNG cannot mobilize capital immediately; however, according to the agreement, from the third or fourth quarter of 2024, the Company will be able to start paying according to the schedule for the parties.
Regarding the fact that HNG is facing the risk of delisting after three consecutive years of loss, a representative of the auditing firm Ernst & Young (EY) said that in agricultural investment, it is impossible to invest in one go and make a profit immediately, so even if it is fortunately permitted to continue listing, in the next 1-2 years, the Company still cannot guarantee to make a profit. In their personal opinion, it is necessary to have a long-term view of HNG, it is necessary to accept the delisting, but the information disclosure of HNG at UPCoM will be similar to that when listed on HOSE or HNX.
Sharing the view of the audit unit, Chairman of the Board of Directors of HNG Mr. Tran Ba Duong said that from HOSE to UPCoM, the information disclosure and transparency of HNG will be the same. Secondly, the value of the company by this time is 11 trillion VND, of which 8 trillion VND has been lost, leaving more than 3 trillion VND, but the investment will continue to be invested, in 2024 will continue to invest 1.5 trillion VND. Mr. Duong affirmed that he would bet on agriculture in general and HNG in particular.
The Chairman of HNG added: “Shareholders are afraid of delisting, I think that transparency is very important. How can we form real value, when people see the potential value, at UPCoM, the stock price will still go up. Stock liquidity does not entirely depend on the floor but on the actual value”.
In terms of potential value, Mr. Duong assessed that HNG has developed a new model, and the next task is to operate it to make a profit. He expects that this year, by October, the company will continue to invest in new construction. By September 2025, HNG will have stable harvest revenue, so it is hoped that in 2025 the Company will make a profit.
Sharing more about the process of farming, Mr. Duong said that first of all, it is a huge investment, many thousand hectares, it is necessary to invest in the ground, drainage systems, ensure mechanization, minim
